


Two Ways

by Calamity_Hero_Awakens



Series: Count The Ways [1]
Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Boys Kissing, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Forehead Touching, Hotels, Kissing, M/M, Masky is called Jahath because reasons, Tags Are Hard, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, but he doesn't actually make an appearance in this, reasons being idk time to switch it up a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26518195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calamity_Hero_Awakens/pseuds/Calamity_Hero_Awakens
Summary: The sound of footsteps on the carpet of the hallway caught his attention and the man eyed the door. The steps were too loud to be his companion which meant it was probably someone else, most likely someone occupying another room, but then they stopped at the door to his room. He listened intently to the sound of the keycard slide before the door was opened and as soon as it was, he heard a voice.“Oh. It’s you.”
Relationships: Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright, Timothy "Tim" Wright | Masky/Skully (Marble Hornets)
Series: Count The Ways [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958158
Comments: 7
Kudos: 50





	Two Ways

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mamavampyr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamavampyr/gifts).



> Jahath means “broken in pieces” or “descending” and I thought it’d be a nice break from “Masky”.

Everything was new again. As the man opened his eyes, it was as if he were awakening for the first time. The drab walls of the room and plain wooden furniture actually were new, though they looked exactly like the last place he had been. Moving too quickly caused his surroundings to shift, warping into long creatures with bright colours, but that was nothing new.

The sound of static remained in the back of his mind like the hum of a television set left forgotten and he found that his face itched. As his hands reached up to sate the itch, he found that his mask was missing. Ah, that would explain things.

Rolling onto his left side, the man tumbled off the bed, hitting the floor with a thud that was muffled by the carpet. A plain duffel bag was set against the night table and had been left unzipped, the white mask on the top plainly visible even in the darkness of the room. Snatching the mask up, the man pushed it onto his face, knocking his hat off as he pulled the string over his head. The static that enveloped his brain hissed loudly, pulling a wince from him, before it quieted down to a faint sound. With the plastic over his face, he also found that the itch in his skin had been sated, something he was quite grateful for.

Mask on, the man looked down to the object that had fallen off his head. A hat, it was called? Such a funny object, but perhaps he would continue wearing it. His companion might find it humorous.

Speaking of which, where was the man?

Popping his head up over the edge of the bed, Skully - as the one called “Tim” often referred to him - surveyed the dark room to find it empty of any other living thing. That was both a relief and an annoyance. Awaking was always disorienting for him and it helped to have someone there, but it wasn’t like he was dependent on the other man. Either way, Jahath would be back soon enough and that gave him a little bit of time to investigate his new surroundings. If something were to happen - which, as of late, it usually did - the man wanted to be able to fight in the dark, literally and figuratively.

Like the other places he had awoken, there was a large room with two beds, and a single room off of it that held a toilet, sink, and shower. Something in the back of his mind pushed at him and he could nearly recall what this place was called, but after only coming up with the letters “H”, “T”, and “E”, he found he didn’t care. Whatever it was called, they were all the same and he knew that he’d be transferring to a new one soon enough.

The sound of footsteps on the carpet of the hallway caught his attention and the man eyed the door. The steps were too loud to be Jahath which meant it was probably someone else, most likely someone occupying another room, but then they stopped at the door to his room. From the light in the hall, Skully could see two shadows standing at the door and he listened to the sound of the keycard slide before the door was opened. Sickly fluorescent lighting flooded the room in the few seconds that the door was open before the dim yellow-tinged lights of the room itself were clicked on.

“Oh,” the voice of Tim uttered as his eyes caught sight of Skully, his head peeking over the edge of the far bed. The tone of his voice was somewhere between surprise and disappointment and the feeling was mutual. Skully had been expecting Jahath, not Tim. Now he was stuck with someone who couldn’t understand a thing he said and treated him more like a dangerous child than an adult.

“It’s you,” Tim said as he closed the door, obviously not expecting to return to find Skully. “I… Didn’t know you were awake.”

Skully made a huff behind his mask to return the sentiment as he slowly climbed back onto the bed, though something caught his eye. A plastic bag hung from Tim’s left hand, swaying gently with the weight of the object inside it as Tim approached his own bed.

“What is it?” Skully asked but Tim gave him the look he always did whenever the cryptic spoke to him.

“You know I don’t understand you when you chirp,” Tim reminded him, setting the bag down on the bed as he shrugged off his jacket, letting it fall to the mattress. “Anyway, I got you something.”

Skully’s head cocked to the side and Tim sat down on the edge of his bed, kicking his shoes off before bringing his feet up and crossing his legs. Skully sat on his own bed, staring intently at the other man as he reached for the bag.

“Well, come here,” Tim said, patting the space on the bed beside him. Skully didn’t normally get too close to the man when he was Tim but he supposed he could this once.

Keeping his eyes glued to Tim, Skully slowly crawled to the edge of the bed on all fours before sliding off into the floor. The action reminded Tim of a cat or maybe a small child, anything but a full grown man (not that he minded).

As the cryptic climbed up onto the bed to sit beside him, Tim reached into the bag and pulled out an object, holding it out for Skully to take. The man snatched it out of his hand before holding it in his palms, rolling it back and forth to see it in its entirety. The object was oddly shaped, made up of several spheres connected in the center. Four colours were present - red, blue, black, and yellow - each colour having three orbs, and the spheres could be twisted and shifted around.

Sitting on the bed, Tim watched as Skully rolled the object back and forth in his palms, trilling quietly to himself before glancing up at Tim and then back to the object.

“I think it’s called an ‘Atomic Fidget Ball’, but I’m not sure,” Tim piped up. “You can twist it around and stuff but, uh, I don’t think there’s an actual point to it. It’s just, something to do, I guess.”

Skully’s face tilted up a little, his eyes catching sight of the plastic bag that had been discarded to the side and his arm shot out to grab it, his new toy coming to rest between his crossed legs.

“Oh! That’s, uhm,” Tim began as Skully rifled through the bag, pulling out two matching bracelets. The items were simple watch bands, the colours of the rainbow striping them from end to end. Skully held one up, staring at it curiously before letting out a few chirps.

“I got it for Jay,” Tim admitted before quickly adding, “well, I got us matching ones. They’re bracelets.”

Behind the holes in the mask, Tim could see the confusion in Skully’s eyes as he stared at the object, shaking it gently and watching it limply sway before slowly coming to a stop.

“I can put it on you if you’d like,” Tim offered, reaching up to take the bracelet. Skully jerked his hand away and stared Tim down.

“Where does it go?” he cautiously asked but Tim gave him the blank look he always did. Not being understood was perhaps one of the most frustrating feelings Skully had ever had to endure and he repeated the question more insistently.

Regardless of whatever Skully was trying to say, his loud chirping wasn’t helping Tim understand him any better. He did, however, fall completely silently when Tim wrapped one of the rainbow bands around his own wrist and began trying to buckle it with his free hand. Glancing up from the task, Tim saw Skully’s head tilted to the side, eyes focused on Tim’s hand before his own hands tentatively reached forward and began slipping the band through the buckle, fastening it into place.

“See?” Tim said, holding out his wrist for Skully to inspect. “It’s just, decorative. It doesn’t really have a purpose.”

Skully made a quiet chittering noise that reminded Tim of a raccoon as he grabbed the other bracelet, inspecting it before glancing at Tim and pointing to the thing in accusation.

Tim wasn’t really sure what that meant but he decided to try and respond to the action with, “I thought I’d get Jay and I something that matches.”

Skully tilted his head to the side in question as he ran his fingers over the striped band.

“You… Wanna know why it’s rainbow?” Tim tried to guess and Skully nodded his head. For once, he felt like the two were having some kind of conversation or, at the very least, were on the same page.

“Uh, well…” Tim began, uncomfortably shifting. He wasn’t really sure how to explain it. “We both like men in a romantic way. And the rainbow is kind of like a symbol of that.”

Skully perked up at the explanation, bouncing up onto his knees before sitting back on his ankles, reaching his hand out and holding it in place for Tim to strap the bracelet on.

Tim hadn’t expected Skully to be so enthusiastic about it but he was pleasantly surprised by the man’s reaction and he quickly put the bracelet on him, buckling it tight on Skully’s thin wrist.

“So,” Tim cleared his throat, “how about dinner?”

📼 📼 📼

Skully preferred the dark; that was obvious by the way he went about the room, clicking off all the lights as soon as the two had returned from their outing.

After suggesting they go out to eat, Skully had slid into the backseat of Tim’s car, stretching out as much as he could, legs spread uncomfortably so that one rested on the floor and one was propped up on the seat. Tim had gone through the drive through and passed Skully’s food back to him but by the time they returned to the hotel, the man had already scarfed his food down, continuing to sip on his drink, the straw hidden behind the plastic mask that still concealed his face.

Before heading up to the room, Skully had dug through Tim’s trunk, retrieving two throw blankets and bundling them up in his arms before following Tim into the building and up the stairwell.

In their room, Skully moved effortlessly through the dark, clicking on the television then immediately ignoring it as he stripped his bed of the top sheet and blanket. Taking his own blankets, the cryptic used his collection of blankets to line his bed, creating a small “wall” around the edge of the mattress. While Tim and Skully didn’t spend much time together, it was always an unspoken rule that Skully’s “nest” was never to be bothered and Tim simply watched in fascination like he always did as he changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tshirt.

As soon as Skully was satisfied with his creation, he climbed off the bed, careful to not disrupt the blankets, and began digging through Tim’s duffel bag.

“Looking for something, bud?”

Skully made a quiet chirp as he yanked out several pieces of clothing, tossing them aside and continuing to rifle through the bag until he finally found what he was looking for. He offered the small courtesy of haphazardly jamming Tim’s clothes back into his bag before jumping back onto his own bed, leaning over the opposite side of the mattress to dig through his own bag of possessions.

Tim watched curiously as Skully hung over the bed, grabbing something before sitting back on the mattress, shimmying his jeans down his legs and kicking them off, quickly slipping on his own sweatpants and tugging on the jacket he had stolen from Tim’s bag. The jeans were dropped onto the floor and finally satisfied with himself, Skully snatched up the item Tim had bought him from the nightstand, beginning to twist it back and forth. The other man watched for only a moment longer before grabbing the remote, beginning to click through channels.

Nothing was interesting. Every show that Tim paused to watch was boring or simply reruns of things he’d seen before. He had persisted in his search to find something to watch but had eventually given up, dropping the remote back onto the nightstand and letting his eyes slip closed, his arms crossed loosely over his chest as he relaxed into the mattress, propped up a little by the pillows he had stacked behind himself. He had nearly dozed off to sleep when something caught his attention and his eyes slowly opened again.

Sitting on the next bed, Skully was focused on the television, the item in his hands simply being held as the man found something more interesting to focus on. A curious chirp left Skully’s mouth and he glanced over at Tim before nodding his head in the direction of the TV. Tim glanced up to the television to see a couple on the screen standing on the sidewalk sharing a passionate kiss.

“What is it?” Tim asked before clearing his throat and sitting up a little more. What was Skully interested in? He didn’t see anything particularly interesting on the screen.

Skully let out another chirp followed by a trill as he touched the painted teeth on his mask. It finally occurred to Tim that Skully probably had no idea what the two on the screen were doing; why would he?

“They’re kissing,” Tim vaguely explained, considering the conversation over and beginning to close his eyes again when he heard the man shift on his mattress and then felt the added weight of another person on his own bed.

“Let me guess, you wanna know what that means,” Tim sighed as he opened his eyes again.

Sitting beside Tim’s knees, Skully gave a single nod.

“Well, most people kiss because they’re dating or married, but parents also kiss their children on the cheek as a sign of affection and love.”

Skully trilled as he leaned forward and tapped Tim’s forehead with two fingers. Before Tim could ask what he meant - not that it would matter because he wouldn’t understand whatever answer he was given - Skully was leaning forward and pressing the plastic forehead of his mask against Tim’s, pausing for a moment before pulling back. Tim was left slightly confused and without much light in the room, he was left staring into the black voids behind the eye holes in the mask as he tried to figure out just what had happened. Several silent minutes passed before Tim put the pieces together.

“Is that how you kiss?”

Skully nodded and hesitantly ran his fingers over the bracelet around Tim’s wrist before bringing the man’s hand up to rest on his chest over his heart. Tim could feel its steady pace, almost completely relaxed and he marvelled at the stark contrast between them; while Skully seemed perfectly relaxed, Tim’s heart was beating frantically. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but touching or being touched by Jay always had him feeling nervous.

The hand over Tim’s on Skully’s chest laced their fingers so that Skully was holding his hand, the man’s warm palm pressing into the back of Tim’s hand. Beneath their hands, Tim could feel the man’s heart finally beginning to beat faster and moments later, Skully reached up, pushing his mask up so that his face was revealed.

“Jay?” Tim hopefully asked only to receive a sad trill. He sighed.

“It’s okay, Skully.”

The man’s eyes were large and almost frightened looking as they darted across Tim’s face, taking in every detail of the man before he leaned closer and timidly pressed their lips together. Out of habit, Tim’s eyes immediately slipped closed and he gently pressed his lips back against Skully’s.

Kissing Tim was much different from kissing Jahath, though the sensation wasn’t unpleasant. The way Tim’s eyes had closed as soon as their lips had met made Skully wonder if he should close his eyes too but he decided not to; while he couldn’t see the other man well with their faces so close together, he liked being able to see how relaxed Tim looked under the contact.

It was odd how Tim’s lips moved against his and Skully wondered why he was doing such a thing but he decided to reciprocate the action, enjoying the way it felt combined with the warmth and the small taste of Tim that was left on his lips.

An idea struck him and Skully decided to test his luck, opening his mouth a little. Tim immediately copied the action and his tongue lightly pressed against Skully’s lower lip. The action was more surprising than anything and Skully jolted back. Tim’s breathing was heavy as his eyes opened again and Skully was sure the man could feel the way his heart was pounding in his chest.

“Sorry,” Tim apologized, suddenly looking embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s fine,” Skully replied - though Tim couldn’t understand him - before leaning back in for another kiss. Almost as soon as their lips met, Skully was licking at Tim’s bottom lip, repeating the action that had been done to him. Tim let out a small breathy noise as his mouth opened just slightly and Skully slipped his tongue into Tim’s mouth, feeling the other man’s tongue against his own.

Yes, kissing Tim was strange, but a good kind of strange - the kind of strange that Skully liked.

Breaking apart, Skully bumped his forehead against Tim’s again, this time feeling the man’s skin against his own. Tim’s breaths were heavy against his face as he tried to catch his breath and Skully finally let his eyes close, feeling the comfort that only Jahath could provide him.

Pulling away, the cryptic slipped his mask back over his face before returning to his own bed and picking up the item Tim had bought for him, resuming twisting it, listening to it quietly clack together.

He could feel Tim’s eyes on him as he resumed staring at the television but his thoughts weren’t on whatever movie was playing. Behind the mask, a smile was on his face. He decided he would show Jahath how Tim kissed the next time they were together.

On his own bed, Tim was left staring at the strange man, a small smile of his own appearing on his face as he listened to the happy trills that Skully made.


End file.
